I can't tell you how many times since Jax has been born that he does or says something that throws us for a loop.
As he gets older, his thoughts and sayings tend to be more well-developed and thought-out theories on various things:
- why the plants grow the way they do
- whether that tiny gecko on the carpet in the middle of the hallway is simply hurt or scared
- why that tiny gecko is in our house
Everything has a reason for being or doing and Jax often knows, or thinks he knows, the answer. Often times he's right. A lot of times he's not. Sometimes, he is just plain cute.
Take, for example, this little gem from his birthday morning:
(Looking at his feet)-"Mom, I can look at my feet and tell that I'm 4 today. They look 4."
To me, this seemed a fairly normal, innocuous preschooler musing. Quite adorable, for sure.
But, when 5 minutes later, I was hearing his musings over reincarnation, I was, understandably, picking pieces of grey matter out of my hair:
(With the most serious face I have seen on this little jokester in a while): "Mom, when people die, their spirit leaves their body and joins up with all the other spirits-the people and the animals-and it becomes the force. If people come back alive with their spirit, it's with different bones that are growed together."
My first thought: "What? Did he just say that?"
My second thought: "We read too much Star Wars."
My third thought: "Did he really just say that? Wow. Can there BE too much Star Wars? I love this kid. Dang. I gotta post this on Facebook!" (haha!)
In all seriousness though, when I hear these types of comments or have these types of conversations with him, it's hard for me to fathom where he is going to be later on his journey. If he is already contemplating life and having mini epiphanies at the ripe old age of 4...man. He's got so much to teach us!
And yes, I share these Jaxisms and quotes from him as a partial brag. It's true. I do want some praise from the masses on the interwebs telling me that my kid is awesome. But honestly, in a lot of ways, I really just want feedback. I want to know how to foster this sense of...whatever it is so that he doesn't lose it. I want to know how far is too far to push him? What is he really capable of? Am I just biased, or is he really that amazing?
Who am I kidding? Of course he's amazing. He's my kid. But, you know what I mean...how do I help him be him without expecting too much?
